Played with Garageband today...wtf

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marshall409

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How the hell does everything sound so good?

I've demoed hundreds of dollars worth of strings and drums modules and the built in default sounds on garageband sound better to me!

am i just imagining it? or does apple really have some great sounds?

Adam
 
I've spent the last year with a bad case of GAS - I'm typing on a week old laptop, and I'm expecting my second firewire interface in the mail tomorrow, and I've got a whole bunch of microphones, nice cables, etc., and I want more.

But I'm still using Garage Band, and I'm really not curious about the higher end packages - I'll move on when I hit a hard limit with it, but I don't see it coming. I got a scaled down version of Cubase with my last interface, and I haven't even installed it.
 
i've been using garage band with my presonus firebox for the last year and seem to think it has some great sounding effects.
BUT, am i limiting myself with this software? I don't hear anyone using garageband on this forum.
 
Nothing is wrong with garage band really. The only issue I have with it is that it only supports 16 bit recording and not 24 bit. I love everything else about it but I only use it for songwriting because of this. I am really used to the dynamic range I get with 24 bit so when I do a full scale recording of something I am using pro tools. I really hope apple wises up and puts 24 bit support into GB. I would most likely use it alot more.

P.S. You're right about how good GB instruments sound. They are awesome.
 
ya like why the hell can't i find anything that compares to it? theyre sooo good. i really need to find some decent strings and stuff.

Adam
 
GarageBand is nice, but it's 16-bit, limited automation options, verrrry clunky audio editing, etc. It's fine for recording(if you don't mind 16-bit) but mixing/producing is very hard. that's where Logic comes in (which we also don't have a forum for)

marshall409: on Windows machines, I've heard M-Audio Session is kind of a GarageBand-like app. not sure as to the quality of instruments, plugs, etc thogh. goes for about $50 and comes with some of the newer interfaces.
 
The loops and instruments in Garageband sound so good because they're from Apple's high-end audio division. The Logic Pro stuff is what brought us the Garageband packs.

as for M-Audio Session... I'm really wanting to play around with it since I don't have a Mac at home (had plenty of access to 'em when I worked for 'em haha), and really miss the songwriting abilities of GB, and I really hate the software that came with my FastTrack Pro. I've heard that the plugins and instruments are decent, although not nearly as good as in GB... I think I'm going to fork over the $25 to upgrade to the Session software, and see what happens from there.
 
sonnylarsen said:
it only supports 16 bit recording and not 24 bit.
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I noticed that GB forces my audio input to reset itself to 44.1KHz, but it doesn't force a 24bit setting down to 16. This is pure observation and not knowledge about the app - it was actually news to me about the 44.1KHz limit - I heard that cuts down on the dynamic range of the tracks, and that the ultimate mix (even if eventually cut down to 44.1KHz for a mp3 or whatever) will suffer somewhat due to what's lost in the mixing process. I'll enjoy my ignorance of what that actually means for as long as I can.

While we're on the subject of Logic, is Logic Express worth considering? It's a lot cheaper.
 
antichef said:
I noticed that GB forces my audio input to reset itself to 44.1KHz, but it doesn't force a 24bit setting down to 16. This is pure observation and not knowledge about the app - it was actually news to me about the 44.1KHz limit - I heard that cuts down on the dynamic range of the tracks, and that the ultimate mix (even if eventually cut down to 44.1KHz for a mp3 or whatever) will suffer somewhat due to what's lost in the mixing process. I'll enjoy my ignorance of what that actually means for as long as I can.

While we're on the subject of Logic, is Logic Express worth considering? It's a lot cheaper.
Click to expand...

Logic Express is a great program imho!
 
Logic Express doesn't have the complete capabilities of Logic but you likely don't need everything Logic can do. I've heard Express is great for recording and mixing.

GarageBand is a good little program to learn on. The sounds actually are quite good and the loops are fun to mess with. I wanted to play around with the loops in Pro Tools but couldn't until I picked up Battery 3. The overal capabilities of GB are limited compared to higher end programs (hopefully they add support for 24bit recording), but it's a great way to get familiar with recording, mixing, eqing, compressing, etc. It's also really easy to switch from it to Logic or Pro Tools or probably any other program since the basic controls and methodology are the same. Nice work Apple.
 
antichef said:
I've spent the last year with a bad case of GAS - I'm typing on a week old laptop, and I'm expecting my second firewire interface in the mail tomorrow, and I've got a whole bunch of microphones, nice cables, etc., and I want more.

But I'm still using Garage Band, and I'm really not curious about the higher end packages - I'll move on when I hit a hard limit with it, but I don't see it coming. I got a scaled down version of Cubase with my last interface, and I haven't even installed it.
Click to expand...


"with my last interface" HA!!! YOU MEAN SOUNDCARD, YOU MEAN YOU GOT A FREE SH1TTIER COPY OF CUBASE ALONG WITH YOU SOUNDCARD PURCHASE!!! HA, I'M STARTING TO UNDERSTAND!!!



I TRIED GARAGEBAND OUT AT THE Mac store aND IT'S REAL EASY TO USE, I LIKE SOME OF THE SOUNDS BUT SOME OF THEM REALLY SUCK
 
antichef said:
I noticed that GB forces my audio input to reset itself to 44.1KHz, but it doesn't force a 24bit setting down to 16. This is pure observation and not knowledge about the app - it was actually news to me about the 44.1KHz limit - I heard that cuts down on the dynamic range of the tracks, and that the ultimate mix (even if eventually cut down to 44.1KHz for a mp3 or whatever) will suffer somewhat due to what's lost in the mixing process. I'll enjoy my ignorance of what that actually means for as long as I can.

While we're on the subject of Logic, is Logic Express worth considering? It's a lot cheaper.
Click to expand...


it cuts down on the frequency range, the bits is the dynamic (amplitude) range...you can only record frequencies up to half the number of the sample rate...if the sample rate is 44.1khz, you can record frequencies up to 22khz, but most humans can only hear up to 20khz...there is a debate on whether low frequencies and high frequencies that get cut may actually have an effect on how you perceive the overall sound...and I could see that especially on the low end because if you cut off part of the fundamental frequency couldn't that effect how you perceive the harmonics?


anyway, I think your blissful ignorance has only been hindered a bit by all of th is so I'll stop here.
 
what doesn't logic express have that the pro-logic or whatever it's called does have?
 
pacman9000 said:
anyway, I think your blissful ignorance has only been hindered a bit by all of th is so I'll stop here.
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Not in the least! I guarantee he will be dumber after reading that!
 
boingoman said:
Not in the least! I guarantee he will be dumber after reading that!
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do i have my own personal troll on this site already?... go find a hobby and stop following me around old man
 
pacman9000 said:
do i have my own personal troll on this site already?... go find a hobby and stop following me around old man
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I'm bored, you are clueless and easily riled*. It's a great combo, for me. I am going to work soon, I won't be bored anymore. You, however... ;)

To be serious for a second, it wasn't a bad overview, just due to the way things work, 44.1 gives you an effective 20-20k frequency range.

Higher sampling rates may or may not give you more frequency range. They sure have the potential, but whether or not they do depends on how they are implemented. A higher sampling rate can give a better sound all across the spectrum, it isn't all about frequency response.
 
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you don't know what you're talking about...obvious youre in over your head.


if you sample vinyl at 96khz you are going to capture frequencies above AND BEYOND 22khz, with 44.1 you're not, this is not up for debate old grey, maybe you're going senile.
 
pacman9000 said:
you don't know what you're talking about...obvious yourre in over your head.


if you sample vinyl at 96khz you are going to capture frequencies above AND BEYOND 22khz, with 44.1 you're not, this is not up for debate old grey, maybe you're going senile.
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That entirely depends on your input filters, junior. If they roll off at 20kHz, you ain't sampling nothing higher than that.
 
that's a given, you're only exposing your own stupidity, who would configure their system to prevent themselves from utilizing a higher sample rate if that was their intention.
 
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